The Great Northern, Luton

Small pub near station. One real ale, and we made the mistake of sitting in Old Tom's seat so there were stares and grumbles under the breath, Probably one for the locals only

I was greeted on arrival to this pub by an elderly gent outside. Inside is tiny, with only 4 or 5 tables. The ones near the window were taken. But I took one along the side wall. The pub has a nice, traditional atmosphere. However, Tribute is the solitary ale and this did not appeal to me. Nice pub, nice atmosphere, friendly punters. But the beer selection (or lack of it) makes this distinctly average.

Just a short distance from the town’s bus and train stations, this is a small, single room pub with a bit of an ‘is it, isn’t it’ Irish theme. The room is carpeted throughout and has the servery along most of the left-hand wall, boasting a nice, curved counter that has been painted in green to add to the Irish pub theory, contrasting against the thankfully unpainted dark wood bar back. The front windows are a real mismatch of clear, frosted and etched glass panes that seem to each come from different eras in the pub’s history. Some limited seating is available to the front of the pub, including a garden-style metal table served by a couple of chairs. As you move further to the rear, this gives way to some comfy looking banquette booths along the right-hand wall, although they have been separated by some very loud, clanging Covid screens, which soundtracked my visit whenever anyone so much as moved a muscle. Other than that, seating is limited to a few high stools with no tables at both the front and back of the room. Unusually, my table had an unusual feature, in that the corners had been cut out and in each resulting nook, a circular brass glass holder had been inserted – quite why you’d want to put your glass in one of these shaky looking holders when there is a large table-top surface to place your pint on, is beyond on me. A couple of TV screens can be found around the room, one of which was showing a live Euro 2021 fixture and the barmaid offered to switch it to the other screen when it became apparent that the only customers in the pub were all sat facing the unused screen. Perhaps the pub’s most striking feature is the beautiful green glazed tiling with a plant motif insert that runs around the perimeter of the room – it’s definitely eye catching and makes the pub stand out from the crowd a bit, so kudos to them for not ripping it all out. I think there were three handpulls in total on the bar, but only one was in action, dispensing a moderate pint of St Austell Tribute. The barmaid here was working solo and was very cheery, despite the fact that she was probably eyeing up an early finish to her evening until I turned up late in the day. I found this to be a pretty workmanlike sort of pub, with a simple ale offering, limited seating and friendly service. I warmed to the place a little and definitely enjoyed the attractive tiling and warm welcome, but ultimately, this is another fairly average Luton town centre pub that isn’t going to keep you away from the Bricklayers.

Described as a "little gem" on Camra's inventory of historic pub interiors, this is a proper locals pub. There are three hand pumps, but at the time of my visit two were in operation, serving the regular beers, Sharps Doom Bar and St Austell Tribute. The third pump had another Tribute pump clip turned around. This seems to be the most popular beer here, and was in superb condition - I saw several apparent regulars drinking it too. The smell alluded to in a previous review must have been a one-off, as there was no problem when I was here, unless you count the woman sat at the bar counter smoking an e-cigarette, whose vapour reminded me of joss sticks. I called in twice, once on my way to the match, and once for a celebratory pint on the way home. It was lively and vibrant on both occasions, a really good atmosphere: "home fans only", says the notice on the window.

Now, I can only report things as I find them but there was an overbearing smell of urine as soon as we opened the door. Enough to a) make you eyes water and b) wonder how anyone could put up with it. Totally overpowering. Mrs M was not impressed that I had taken her CAMRA pub ticking. Having visited the loos - I can confirm the smell wasn't coming from there. It was nicer in there than the bar. Did put a dent (well I had to put up with some serious glaring from Mrs M) in an other wise fine trip to a piece of history.